Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Perpetual musafir we all are

Thank God for another opportunity to travel, to put on my musafir shoes, not that we are occasional musafir, we are all in fact perpetual musafir.

Guess where I went?

Because this beautiful sunrise was too mesmerizing to miss,
this musafir paused for a couple of minutes, hence missed the ferry

There's a hikmah in every little thing.
So we learned there's a better ride that could take us to our destination

Guess where we were heading for?

Does that look familiar to anyone?
I visited this island several times before via ferry rides.
And from the jetty, rode a van to this place.
This time around Allah Al-Kareem,
made us arrive in style, right on the "doorstep".
The boat ride and the sea was beautiful!

Sultan Al-Ariffin Shaykh Ismail was the 18th descendant of the Prophet Muhammad salallah alaihi wasalam. He was born in Baghdad in 1464 C.E. He was also a descendant of Sultan Awliya Shaykh Abdul Qadir Al-Jailani. Upon visiting the Prophet's maqam in Madinah, he had a calling to spread Islam to Java islands (South East Asia). So he did. Shaykh Ismail arrived in Pulau Besar, Melaka in 1495 C.E. Melaka is two hours drive south of KL. The island Pulau Besar is about 20 minutes boat ride from the mainland.

Shaykh Ismail traveled with 16 other people and among them was his teacher Shaykh Yusuf As-Siddiq whose maqam is next to his murid's. Shaykh Ismail's teachings and influence attracted many people to the island. A couple of his students became prominent saints in the region. He passed away at the age of 58. Five hundred years have passed yet his maqam continues to receive throng of visitors everyday. Shaykh Ismal traveled for the sake of Allah and Rasulullah. For the sincere devotion he had for the deen, Allah continues to preserve his good name and reputation to this day.

May we travel for the sake of Allah. Even when we are not physically traveling, we are in reality a perpetual musafir in this realm we live in.

As we traverse the world, the best destination has got to be the mosque - the House of Allah. And visiting maqams of the chosen ones is a noble deed because it not only reminds us of our eventual fate - death - or rather migration to the eternal abode, it also encourages us to love those whom He must really love, else why would He honor them with a posthumous recognition.

Lisan al-Din Writer & Editor

This blog was launched in April 2009, in honor of Shaykh Ahmad ibn Mustafa al-Alawi (1869-1934) who founded and directed a weekly publication called 'Lisan al-Din' (Language of Faith) in 1912. Shaykh Ahmad al-Alawi, a renowned Algerian Sufi Saint of the 20th century was the founder of the Darqawiya Alawiya order - a branch of the Shadhilli Tariqah. May this blog, its readers and its writer benefit from the grace and blessings of Shaykh Ahmad al-Alawi, and all the other shuyukh, past and present, whose names we mention herein. May God's blessings be upon our master Muhammad and upon his family and companions. Ameen.

LA HAWLA WALA QUWWATA ILLAH BILLAH 'ALIYIL 'AZIMThere is no power and no strength save with Allah, the High, the Great